He was a provincial official in many places and became a historian after his retirement in 1641. He spoke Turkish and Bosnian very well.[2] The year of his death is not known.[3] According to Katip Çelebi, he died in the Islamic year of 1061 (1650 AD). But some historians think he died before 1649.[4][5]

Peçevi Efendi is famous for his two-volume book Tarih-i Peçevi ("Pecevi's History") of the history of the Ottoman Empire, the main reference for the period 1520–1640. The information about older events Peçevi took from previous works and narrations of veterans. His times are described firsthand and from tales of witnesses. Peçevi carefully references all quotations. Peçevi also was one of the first Ottoman historians who used European written sources; he makes references, e.g., to Hungarian historians.